BYU Football: Ranking the 4 Biggest Offseason Challenges for Robert Anae

The offensive coordinator position at any college football program is a tough, tough job. Having the same occupation at BYU is even more difficult, where athletes are required to abide by an Honor Code and many serve two-year missions before seeing the field.

That's why Robert Anae, the new and old Cougar OC, is bound for one heckuva summer by trying to break in a new offense and working with a new crop of athletes. On top of that, a daunting schedule provides extra stress for the veteran coordinator.

There will be plenty of challenges that Anae will have to face, and here are four of them.

4. Bringing Back the Tight End Dominance

The last time that Anae led BYU's offense, the program produced a duo of All-American tight ends in Jonny Harline and Super Bowl champion Dennis Pitta. But since Pitta left for the NFL, the Cougars have struggled to find a consistent player to fill that void.

Kaneakua Friel and Brett Thompson will provide Anae with solid building blocks at the position, and if he can turn the two receivers into dominant playmakers, it will provide Taysom Hill with more targets and a headache for defenses.

3. Adjusting the Offensive Line

BYU will have a remarkably young offensive line this year, with seven freshman and only two seniors in the 16-man unit. With a new O-line coach, though, we could see some positive changes made.

It will take some action from Anae to follow through with those changes, and it will be his responsibility to make sure that this happens. The line has struggled in recent years and improvement is essential. 

2. Keeping Quarterbacks Healthy

BYU's quarterback health has been downright awful in recent years.

Awful.

From late August to December of last year, BYU went through three different quarterbacks, two of which faced injury. Taysom Hill, who received season-ending surgery in October, will start this season at quarterback. It will be up to Anae to prevent Hill from putting himself into threatening situations.

Like running when victory formation would suffice, for example.

1. Installing an Offense

If there's one thing that will be challenging for Robert Anae to accomplish this offseason, it's perfecting an offense. He's already installed the new system at BYU, but it will need to be polished and perfected by the opener at UVa.

With a solid quarterback in Hill and a great supporting cast in Cody Hoffman and Jamaal Williams, the high-tempo offense could be a great fit. That's not saying that it will be easy to make the transition, but it could definitely be worth it.